Thank you for a heads up on the news, Hsuhs.
I care about Andrey. I think this was a very reasonable solution to the problem from the Russian end. Any time one of their athletes gets into trouble in another country, I believe they see that as an embarrassment. This way, Andrey gets to cool off while his case is being decided in the U.S., but he is still permitted to vie for an opportunity to represent Russia on the ice in the future. That seems equitable to me.
I feel that our State Department in the U.S. did its job, and thereby prevented further harm. Well done.
I am a fan of Russian skating in particular, although I am an American. My three favorite pair couples ever are all Russian. My favorite male skater ever is Russian. My favorite dance team ever is British. My favorite female skaters ever are mostly, but not all, from the U.S. I also have favorite figure skaters from Japan, Korea, Canada, France, and other countries. This is a small world now, and I believe we must all try to be friends. My favorite saying in U.S. history is "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately".
Very reasonable action from Russians... I don't think he has lost much by not competing this year, his position in team was challenged not just by return of Plushy and by consistent scoring of Voronov, but also by the emergence of Borodulin, tetyakov . Lutai may have well finished outside the top 5 at the russian nationals considering how badly he was skating this season.